Structure for detecting temperature of electronic device

ABSTRACT

An electronic device is provided. The electronic device includes a housing configured to form an external shape thereof, a first board disposed in a first direction that is away from the housing, wherein at least one processor is mounted at the first board, a second board disposed between the housing and the first board and electrically connected with the first board, and a thermistor mounted on the second board, wherein the at least one processor measures a temperature of the housing based on an electrical signal received from the second board.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation application of prior application Ser.No. 17/206,795 filed on Mar. 19, 2021; which is a continuationapplication of prior application Ser. No. 16/786,100 filed on Feb. 10,2020, which has issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,955,298 on Mar. 23, 2021;which is a continuation application of prior application Ser. No.16/038,746 filed on Jul. 18, 2018, which has issued as U.S. Pat. No.10,557,757 on Feb. 11, 2020; and which is based on and claims priorityunder 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) of a Korean patent application number10-2017-0091170, filed on Jul. 18, 2017, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosure of each which is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The disclosure relates to an electronic device. More particularly, thedisclosure relates to a structure for detecting a temperature of ahousing and a battery of an electronic device.

2. Description of the Related Art

With the development of mobile communication technology and processingtechnology, mobile terminal devices (hereinafter, electronic devices)may implement various functions as well as a communication function. Inorder to implement various functions, the electronic device includesvarious electronic components.

When the electronic device performs various functions, a processor,memory, and battery within the electronic device may emit a heat as abyproduct of their operation. Such heat may be transferred to a userthrough a housing which may be dangerous, thus, accurate sensing of heatis required.

A conventional electronic device was configured to mount at least onethermistor on a main printed circuit board (PCB) and to measure asurrounding temperature of the thermistor according to an electricalsignal of the thermistor. Because the thermistor is mounted togetherwith other elements (e.g., processor, memory) on the PCB, a temperatureof the thermistor changes according to a temperature change ofperipheral components. Thus, when a lot of heat is produced by anelement such as the processor, there is a problem that the thermistormay not accurately measure the temperature.

Further, in some situations, a large difference may occur between aninternal temperature of the electronic device and an externaltemperature of a portion with which a user contacts, and in this case,the effect of temperature control in which the user directly performsmay be deteriorated.

The above information is presented as background information only toassist with an understanding of the disclosure. No determination hasbeen made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the abovemight be applicable as prior art with regard to the disclosure.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the disclosure are to address at least the above-mentionedproblems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantagesdescribed below. Accordingly, an aspect of the disclosure is to providean apparatus and method for providing a temperature detection structureof an electronic device that can accurately sense a temperature of abattery and a specific area (e.g., a rear cover) of the housing.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description whichfollows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may belearned by practice of the presented embodiments.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, an electronic device isprovided. The electronic device a housing configured to form an externalshape thereof, a first board disposed in a first direction that is awayfrom the housing, wherein at least one processor is mounted at the firstboard, a second board disposed between the housing and the first boardand electrically connected with the first board, and a thermistormounted on the second board, wherein the at least one processor measuresa temperature of the housing based on an electrical signal received fromthe second board.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, an electronicdevice is provided. The electronic device includes a housing configuredto form an external shape thereof, a first board disposed in a firstdirection that is away from the housing, and a thermistor disposedbetween the housing and the first board, wherein a distance between thethermistor and the housing is smaller than that between the thermistorand the first board.

In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, an electronicdevice is provided. The electronic device includes a housing configuredto form an external shape thereof, a battery disposed in a firstdirection that is away from the housing, a first board disposed in thefirst direction, a second board in which at least a portion of thebattery is disposed in the first direction at first area and in which atleast a portion of the first board is disposed in the first direction ata second area different from the first area, and a first thermistormounted in the first area of the second board and a second thermistormounted in the second area of the second board.

Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the disclosure willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings,discloses various embodiments of the disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certainembodiments of the disclosure will be more apparent from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicdevice in a network environment according to an embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are a diagram and a temperature measurement graph,respectively, of an electronic device according to various embodimentsof the disclosure;

FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 are diagrams illustrating a thermistordisposition structure of an electronic device in a lateral directionaccording to various embodiments of the disclosure;

FIGS. 9, 10, 11, and 12 are diagrams illustrating a thermistordisposition structure of an electronic device in a rear directionaccording to various embodiments of the disclosure; and

FIG. 13 is a diagram of a circuit for detecting a temperature of anelectronic device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals will be understood torefer to like parts, components, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings isprovided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of variousembodiments of the disclosure as defined by the claims and theirequivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in thatunderstanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatvarious changes and modifications of the various embodiments describedherein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of thedisclosure. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions andconstructions may be omitted for clarity and conciseness.

The terms and words used in the following description and claims are notlimited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by theinventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of thedisclosure. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the following description of various embodiments of thedisclosure is provided for illustration purpose only and not for thepurpose of limiting the disclosure as defined by the appended claims andtheir equivalents.

It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes referenceto one or more of such surfaces.

An expression “comprising” or “may comprise” used in the disclosureindicates presence of a corresponding function, operation, or elementand does not limit additional at least one function, operation, orelement. Further, in the disclosure, a term “comprise” or “have”indicates presence of a characteristic, numeral, step, operation,element, component, or combination thereof described in the disclosureand does not exclude presence or addition of at least one othercharacteristic, numeral, step, operation, element, component, orcombination thereof.

In the disclosure, an expression “or” includes any combination or theentire combination of together listed words. For example, “A or B” mayinclude A, B, or A and B.

An expression of a first and a second in the disclosure may representvarious elements of the disclosure, but do not limit correspondingelements. For example, the expression does not limit order and/orimportance of corresponding elements. The expression may be used fordistinguishing one element from another element. For example, both afirst user device and a second user device are user devices andrepresent different user devices. For example, a first constituentelement may be referred to as a second constituent element withoutdeviating from the scope of the disclosure, and similarly, a secondconstituent element may be referred to as a first constituent element.

When it is described that an element is “coupled” to another element,the element may be “directly coupled” to the other element or“electrically coupled” to the other element through a third element.However, when it is described that an element is “directly coupled” toanother element, no element may exist between the element and the otherelement.

Terms used in the disclosure are not to limit the disclosure but toillustrate example embodiments. When using in a description of thedisclosure and the appended claims, a singular form includes a pluralityof forms unless it is explicitly differently represented.

Unless differently defined, entire terms including a technical term anda scientific term used here have the same meaning as a meaning that maybe generally understood by a person of common skill in the art. Itshould be understood that generally using terms defined in a dictionaryhave a meaning corresponding to that of a context of related technologyand are not analyzed as an ideal or excessively formal meaning unlessexplicitly defined.

In this disclosure, an electronic device may be a device that involves acommunication function. For example, an electronic device may be a smartphone, a tablet personal computer (PC), a mobile phone, a video phone,an e-book reader, a desktop PC, a laptop PC, a netbook computer, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), anMP3 player, a portable medical device, a digital camera, or a wearabledevice (e.g., an head-mounted device (HMD) such as electronic glasses,electronic clothes, an electronic bracelet, an electronic necklace, anelectronic accessory, or a smart watch), or the like, but is not limitedthereto.

According to some embodiments, an electronic device may be a smart homeappliance that involves a communication function. For example, anelectronic device may be a TV, a digital video disc (DVD) player, audioequipment, a refrigerator, an air conditioner, a vacuum cleaner, anoven, a microwave, a washing machine, an air cleaner, a set-top box, aTV box (e.g., Samsung HomeSync™, Apple TV™, Google TV™, etc.), a gameconsole, an electronic dictionary, an electronic key, a camcorder, or anelectronic picture frame.

According to some embodiments, an electronic device may be a medicaldevice (e.g., magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), magnetic resonanceimaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), ultrasonography, etc.), anavigation device, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, an eventdata recorder (EDR), an flight data recorder (FDR), a car infotainmentdevice, electronic equipment for ship (e.g., a marine navigation system,a gyrocompass, etc.), avionics, security equipment, or an industrial orhome robot, or the like, but is not limited thereto.

According to some embodiments, an electronic device may be furniture orpart of a building or construction having a communication function, anelectronic board, an electronic signature receiving device, a projector,or various measuring instruments (e.g., a water meter, an electricmeter, a gas meter, a wave meter, etc.), or the like, but is not limitedthereto. An electronic device disclosed herein may be one of theabove-mentioned devices or any combination thereof. As well understoodby those skilled in the art, the above-mentioned electronic devices areexamples only and not to be considered as a limitation of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example electronic device in anetwork environment according to an example embodiment of thedisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the electronic device 101 may include a bus 110, aprocessor (e.g., including processing circuitry) 120, a memory 130, aninput/output interface (e.g., including input/output circuitry) 150, adisplay 160, and a communication interface (e.g., includingcommunication circuitry) 170.

The bus 110 may be a circuit for interconnecting elements describedabove and for allowing a communication, e.g. by transferring a controlmessage, between the elements described above.

The processor 120 can receive commands from the above-mentioned otherelements, e.g. the memory 130, the input/output interface 150, thedisplay 160, and the communication interface 170, though, for example,the bus 110, can decipher the received commands, and perform operationsand/or data processing according to the deciphered commands.

The memory 130 can store commands received from the processor 120 and/orother elements, e.g. the input/output interface 150, the display 160,and the communication interface 170, and/or commands and/or datagenerated by the processor 120 and/or other elements. The memory 130 mayinclude software and/or programs 140, such as a kernel 141, middleware143, an application programming interface (API) 145, and an application147. Each of the programming modules described above may be configuredby software, firmware, hardware, and/or combinations of two or morethereof.

The kernel 141 can control and/or manage system resources, e.g. the bus110, the processor 120 or the memory 130, used for execution ofoperations and/or functions implemented in other programming modules,such as the middleware 143, the API 145, and/or the application 147.Further, the kernel 141 can provide an interface through which themiddleware 143, the API 145, and/or the application 147 can access andthen control and/or manage an individual element of the electronicdevice 101.

The middleware 143 can perform a relay function which allows the API 145and/or the application 147 to communicate with and exchange data withthe kernel 141. Further, in relation to operation requests received fromat least one of an application 147, the middleware 143 can perform loadbalancing in relation to the operation requests by, for example, givinga priority in using a system resource, e.g. the bus 110, the processor120, and/or the memory 130, of the electronic device 101 to at least oneapplication from among the at least one of the application 147.

The API 145 is an interface through which the application 147 cancontrol a function provided by the kernel 141 and/or the middleware 143,and may include, for example, at least one interface or function forfile control, window control, image processing, and/or charactercontrol.

The input/output interface 150 may include various input/outputcircuitry and can receive, for example, a command and/or data from auser, and transfer the received command and/or data to the processor 120and/or the memory 130 through the bus 110. The display 160 can displayan image, a video, and/or data to a user.

The communication interface 170 can establish a communication betweenthe electronic device 101 and other electronic devices 102 and 104and/or a server 106. The communication interface 170 can support shortrange communication protocols 164, e.g. a Wireless Fidelity (WiFi)protocol, a Bluetooth (BT) protocol, and a near field communication(NFC) protocol, communication networks, e.g. Internet, local areanetwork (LAN), wire area network (WAN), a telecommunication network, acellular network, and a satellite network, or a plain old telephoneservice (POTS), or any other similar and/or suitable communicationnetworks, such as network 162, or the like. Each of the electronicdevices 102 and 104 may be a same type and/or different types ofelectronic device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2 , an electronic device 200 may include a processor210, memory 220, battery 230, power management module 240, display 250,and thermistor 260, and even if at least a portion of the shown elementsis omitted or replaced, various embodiments of the disclosure may beimplemented. The electronic device 200 may further include at least someof configurations and/or functions of the electronic device 101 of FIG.1 .

According to various embodiments, the shown elements and variouselements that are not shown may be received in a housing (not shown).The housing forms an external shape of the electronic device, someelements (e.g., the processor 210, memory 220, battery 230, and powermanagement module 240) of the electronic device 200 may be disposedinside the housing, and some other elements (e.g., the display 250) maybe disposed outside the housing. According to an embodiment, theelectronic device 200 may have a portion (e.g., a rear portion of thehousing) of the housing or a cover (not shown) that may separate fromthe housing at a rear surface. The cover may be implemented with variousmaterials of a metal or a nonmetal such as plastic. According to anembodiment, the electronic device 200 may be provided with an integralhousing without a separate cover, and in this case, a material (e.g.,metal) constituting at least a portion of a front surface and/or a sidesurface of the housing and a material (e.g., plastic) constituting therear surface may be different. Hereinafter, the rear surface of thehousing may mean a rear area of the housing formed in a one piece or maymean a detachable separate cover provided at a rear surface of thehousing.

According to various embodiments, the processor 210 may perform anoperation or data processing related to the control and/or communicationof each element of the electronic device 200 and include at least someof configurations and/or functions of the processor 120 of FIG. 1 . Theprocessor 210 may be electrically connected to internal elements of theelectronic device 200, such as the memory 220, the display 250, thepower management module 240, and the thermistor 260. The processor 210may be mounted on a main printed circuit board (PCB) (or the firstboard), and the main PCB may mount various elements of the electronicdevice 200, such as the memory 220 and the power management module 240.

According to various embodiments, the memory 220 may store temporarilyor permanently unlimited digital data and include at least some ofconfigurations and/or functions of the memory 130 of FIG. 1 . The memory220 may store various instructions that may be performed in theprocessor 210. Such instructions may include a control command such asarithmetic and logic operations, a data movement, and an input andoutput that may be recognized by the processor 210 and may be defined ona framework stored at the memory 220. Further, the memory 220 may storeat least a portion of the program 140 of the FIG. 1 .

According to various embodiments, operation and data processingfunctions are not limited in which the processor 210 may implementwithin the electronic device 200, but in this specification, atemperature of at least a portion of the electronic device 200 may bedetected from an electrical signal received from the thermistor 260 andtechnical characteristics for providing feedback thereof to the userwill be described. Operations performed in the processor 210 may beperformed by loading instructions stored at the memory 220.

According to various embodiments, the battery 230 may supply power to atleast one element of the electronic device 200 such as the processor 210and the memory 220.

According to various embodiments, the power management module 240manages power supplied from the battery 230 to each element of theelectronic device 200 and may be configured as at least a portion of apower management integrated circuit (PMIC).

According to various embodiments, the display 250 displays an image, maybe implemented into any one of a liquid crystal display (LCD),light-emitting diode (LED) display, organic light-emitting diode (OLED)display, micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) display, and electronicpaper (e-paper) display, but it is not limited thereto. The display 250may include at least some of configurations and/or functions of thedisplay 160 of FIG. 1 .

According to various embodiments, the electronic device 200 may includeat least one thermistor 260 for detecting a temperature. The thermistor(thermally sensitive resistor) 260 may be produced by sintering asemiconductor device, for example, metal oxide such as manganese,nickel, cobalt, iron, copper, and titanium having a property in which aresistance value sensitively decreases when a temperature increases. Inthis specification, it is described that the electronic device uses thethermistor as an element for detecting a temperature, but the disclosureis not limited thereto and the electronic device can use various devicesfor detecting a temperature other than the thermistor. In this case, thethermistor of FIGS. 2, 3A, 3B, and 4 to 13 may be replaced with anyother device for detecting a temperature.

When a temperature of the thermistor 260 increases due to a heatgenerated within the electronic device 200, a resistance value of thethermistor 260 increases; thus, a voltage value (or a current value)applied to the thermistor 260 may be changed. The processor 210 maydetermine a temperature of the thermistor 260 based on an electricalsignal (e.g., a voltage value or a current value) detected by thethermistor 260. A circuit for measuring a temperature through anelectrical signal of the thermistor 260 will be described in detaillater with reference to FIG. 13 .

According to various embodiments, the electronic device 200 may have atleast one thermistor 260 in each area therein, and at least some thereofmay be mounted on the first board (e.g., a main PCB) in which theprocessor 210 and the memory 220, etc. are mounted.

According to various embodiments, at least one thermistor 260 that isnot mounted on the first board may be mounted on the second board (e.g.,flexible printed circuit board (FPCB)). Here, the second board may beprovided for mounting of the thermistor 260 and electrical connection tothe first board. Various embodiments in which the thermistor 260 ismounted on the second board will be described in detail later withreference to FIGS. 4 to 8 . According to other embodiments, thethermistor 260 is a sheet type and may be attached to a particular areaof the electronic device 200 without a separate FPCB. The embodimentwill be described in detail with reference to FIG. 8 .

According to various embodiments, the first board and the second boardare electrically connected to each other, and the processor 210 maydetermine a temperature of a partial area (e.g., a rear housing) of thehousing through an electrical signal transferred from the thermistor 260mounted on the second board and a temperature of each element, providedin the housing of the electronic device 200, such as the battery 230.

According to various embodiments, the processor 210 may control aperformance of the processor 210 or may control charge of the battery230 according to the measured temperature. Further, the processor 210may provide various feedback related to a temperature to the userthrough the display 250, a speaker, or a haptic module.

FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating a rear surface of an electronic deviceaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 3B illustrates atemperature measurement graph of an electronic device according to anembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3A illustrates a housing whose portion (e.g., rear housing) isremoved from a rear surface of an electronic device 300, and FIG. 3B isa graph of a temperature measured in each area of FIG. 3A.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, at a processor at a position 310 and apower management integrated circuit (PMIC) at a position 320 of theelectronic device 300, the center 330, the upper left end 340, and thelower right end 350 of the battery, and the lower end area 360 of thePCB, temperatures may be measured. As shown in the graph of FIG. 3B, itmay be determined that a temperature is high in order of a processor 311and a PMIC 321 of the electronic device 300, the center 331, the upperleft end 341, and the lower right end 351 of the battery, and the lowerend 361 of the PCB.

When the electronic device 300 mounts a thermistor on a main PCB, onlyin a position 310 adjacent to the processor, a position 320 adjacent tothe PMIC, and a lower end area 360 of the PCB on the main PCB among sixareas of FIG. 3A, thermistors may be disposed. In this case, theelectronic device 300 may measure a temperature of corresponding areas310, 320, and 360 through the thermistors disposed at the correspondingareas 310, 320, and 360 and estimate a temperature of each area using atemperature difference measured in a pre-test between the remainingareas 330, 340, and 350 and the disposition areas 310, 320, and 360 ofthe thermistor. However, this is an estimation value that does notdirectly measure a temperature of each area and has a drawback thatcannot accurately measure a temperature in real time. Further, at aposition 310 adjacent to the processor and a position 320 adjacent tothe PMIC, because the thermistors may be disposed to contact with theprocessor and the PMIC on the main PCB, even if the thermistors aredisposed at corresponding positions, a temperature of the processor andthe PMIC cannot be accurately measured.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the electronicdevice 300 may include at least one thermistor (e.g., the thermistor 260of FIG. 2 ) disposed adjacent to a portion (e.g., a rear surface of thehousing) of the housing to more accurately measure a temperature of thehousing. For example, the electronic device 300 may include a firstboard (e.g., a main PCB) disposed in a first direction (e.g., a reardirection) of the housing and in which at least one processor (e.g., theprocessor 210) is mounted, a second board (e.g., an FPCB) disposedbetween the housing and the first board and electrically connected tothe first board, and a thermistor mounted in the second board.

FIGS. 4 to 8 are diagrams illustrating a disposition structure of athermistor for more accurately measuring a temperature of a housing ofan electronic device according to various embodiments of the disclosure.

FIGS. 4 to 8 illustrate a disposition structure of a thermistor foraccurately measuring a temperature of a rear surface of the housing ofthe electronic device. Hereinafter, a downward direction of the drawingcorresponding to a front direction in which a cover of the electronicdevice (e.g., the electronic device 200 of FIG. 2 ) is positioned may bereferred to a first direction, and an upward direction of the drawingcorresponding to a rear direction in which the display (e.g., thedisplay 250 of FIG. 2 ) of the electronic device is positioned may bereferred to a second direction. Further, in a configuration having bothsurfaces such as the cover, the first board, and the second board, asurface toward the first direction may be referred to a first surface,and a surface toward the second direction may be referred to a secondsurface.

According to other embodiments, the electronic device may disposethermistors in at least a portion of a side surface of the housing, afront window, and a bezel area. In this case, the first direction maymean a direction toward the inside of the electronic device based on asurface of the housing (or window) in which the thermistor is disposed,and the second direction may mean a direction toward the outside of theelectronic device. In the embodiment, although not described in detailhereinafter, in a structure of FIGS. 4 to 8 , it may be easilyunderstood that rear housings 410, 510, 610, 710, and 810 may bereplaced with a side surface of the housing, a front window, and a bezelarea.

First, a first embodiment of FIG. 4 will be described.

According to various embodiments, as shown in FIG. 4 , in a firstdirection (e.g., a front direction of an electronic device 400) of arear housing 410, a first board 420 may be disposed, and a second board440 may be disposed between the rear housing 410 and the first board420.

According to various embodiments, the first board 420 may be a main PCBthat may mount various elements such as a processor (e.g., the processor210 of FIG. 2 ) and a memory (e.g., the memory 220 of FIG. 2 ). Further,the second board 440 may be a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) inwhich a thermistor 430 is mounted. According to an embodiment, thesecond board 440 (or FPCB) is an element for mounting of the thermistor430 and electrical connection to the first board 420, a plurality ofthermistors 430 may be mounted within one second board 440, and theelectronic device 400 may include a plurality of thermistors 430corresponding to at least one thermistor 430 according to a dispositionposition of the thermistor 430.

According to various embodiments, two connecting portions 421 and 422may be used to electrically connect the first board 420 and the secondboard 440. The two connecting portions 421 and 422 may be separate orincluded with the first board 420 or the second board 440. Theconnecting portions 421 and 422 for electrical connection of the firstboard 420 and the second board 440 may use various methods such as aC-Clip, contact pad, and connector form. According to an embodiment, atleast one connecting portion (not shown) may be included forelectrically connecting the first board 420 to an element such asanother circuit board other than the second board 440. The descriptionsof connecting portions 421 and 422 may be equally applicable to anyother connecting portion referred to herein.

According to various embodiments, as shown in FIG. 4 , the thermistor430 may be disposed at a second surface of a second direction (e.g., arear direction of the electronic device 400) of the second board 440.According to the embodiment, in order to secure a disposition space ofthe thermistor 430, the rear housing 410 may be formed in a form inwhich at least a partial area including a disposition area 415 of thethermistor 430 has a groove.

According to an embodiment, the thermistor 430 may be disposed closer tothe rear housing 410 rather than the first board 420.

According to an embodiment, at a first surface of the rear housing 410,first structures 451 and 452 for securing a space of the thermistor 430may be disposed. A first surface of the first structures 451 and 452 maybe attached to at least a portion of the second surface of the secondboard 440, and a second surface thereof may be attached to at least aportion of the first surface of the rear housing 410. According to anembodiment, the first structures 451 and 452 are made of a material suchas a sponge and a tape and support a pressure in the first directionand/or the second direction to prevent a physical impact that may beapplied to the thermistor 430. Further, in order to prevent a heat frombeing transferred from the outside to a space 415 in which thethermistor 430 is mounted, the first structures 451 and 452 may be madeof a material having thermal conductivity of a reference value or less.Therefore, a heat transferred from the outside to a disposition area ofthe thermistor 430 may be blocked to the maximum.

According to an embodiment, in an area 415 in which the thermistor 430is disposed, a distance between the rear housing 410 and the secondboard 440 may be greater than a length of a first direction and a seconddirection of the thermistor 430. In other words, the thermistor 430 maynot directly contact with the rear housing 410.

Accordingly, upon contacting with the rear housing 410 made of a metalmaterial and that may occur according to a pressure in the firstdirection and/or the second direction, a short phenomenon of a circuitincluding the thermistor 430 can be prevented and/or upon contactingwith the rear housing 410 made of a metal or a nonmetal, damage by aphysical impact of the thermistor 430 and the rear housing 410 can beprevented.

According to an embodiment, because a predetermined gap is formedbetween the rear housing 410 and the thermistor 430, the rear housing410 and the thermistor 430 may not contact with each other. A length ofthe gap may be a length that enables the rear housing 410 and thethermistor 430 not to come in contact with each other even while usingthe electronic device 400 in consideration of elasticity of the secondboard 440 including the rear housing 410 and the thermistor 430.According to another embodiment, a second structure 460 for preventing acontact may be disposed between the rear housing 410 and the thermistor430. A first surface of the second structure 460 may be attached to atleast a portion of a second surface of the thermistor 430, and a secondsurface thereof may be attached to at least a portion of a secondsurface of the rear housing 410. The second structure 460 may be made ofan insulating material to prevent the thermistor 430 and the rearhousing 410 made of a metal material from being electrically connected.

FIG. 5 illustrates a second embodiment of the disclosure. The secondembodiment described with reference to FIG. 5 is somewhat different in aform of the rear housing, compared with the first embodiment describedwith reference to FIG. 4 .

In an electronic device 500 according to the second embodiment, a firstboard 520 may be disposed in a first direction of a rear housing 510, asecond board 540 may be disposed between the rear housing 510 and thefirst board 520, and a thermistor 530 may be disposed at a secondsurface of the second board 540. According to an embodiment, a secondstructure 560 for preventing contact may be disposed between the rearhousing 510 and the thermistor 530.

Referring to FIG. 5 , the rear housing 510 may have a thickness toreceive the thermistor 530 according to an implementation of theelectronic device 500. According to the embodiment, in order to secure adisposition space 515 of the thermistor 530, at least a partial area 515including a disposition area of the thermistor 530 may be formed in agroove form and a thickness of the rear housing 510 is sufficient; thus,the rear housing 510 may not include a first structure (e.g., the firststructures 451 and 452 of FIG. 4 ) for securing a space of thethermistor 530 unlike the first embodiment.

In the embodiment, because the rear housing 510 may enclose a sidesurface of the thermistor 530, a heat transferred from the outside to adisposition area of the rear housing 510 may be blocked.

According to various embodiments, two connecting portions 521 and 522may be used to electrically connect the first board 520 and the secondboard 540.

FIG. 6 illustrates a third embodiment of the disclosure. The thirdembodiment described with reference to FIG. 6 is an embodiment of a caseof maintaining a flat shape without removing a partial area of the rearhousing, compared with the first embodiment described with reference toFIG. 4 and the second embodiment described with reference to FIG. 5 .

In an electronic device 600 according to the third embodiment, a firstboard 620 may be disposed in a first direction of a rear housing 610, asecond board 640 may be disposed between the rear housing 610 and thefirst board 620, and a thermistor 630 may be disposed at a secondsurface of the second board 640. Further, a second structure 660 forpreventing contact may be disposed between the rear housing 610 and thethermistor 630.

In an electronic device according to the embodiment, by disposing firststructures 651 and 652 at a side surface of the thermistor 630, adisposition space 615 of the thermistor 630 can be secured.

According to various embodiments, two connecting portions 621 and 622may be used to electrically connect the first board 620 and the secondboard 640.

According to various embodiments described with reference to FIGS. 4 to6 , at spaces (e.g., 415, 515, 615) in which thermistors (e.g., 430,530, 630) are disposed, by blocking a heat generating at adjacent otherspaces of the electronic device, a heat of the rear housing (e.g., 410,510, 610) can be more accurately measured. Portions in which much heatoccurs in the electronic device are a first board in which the processorand the memory are mounted and a display positioned in a first directionof the first board, and according to the embodiment described withreference to FIGS. 4 to 6 , the second board may be provided between thefirst board and the thermistor to minimize an influence of a heattransferred in the second direction. Further, due to the secondstructures (e.g., 451, 452, 651, 652) or the rear housing, an influenceof a heat transferred from a side surface of the thermistor may beminimized.

According to various embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6, a thermistor is disposed in a second direction of the first board, butaccording to other embodiments, the thermistor may be disposed in asecond direction of the battery (e.g., the battery 230 of FIG. 2 ). Forexample, the thermistor may be disposed at the center of the battery tomeasure a temperature of the battery. In this case, a size of the secondboard may be extended to cover both the first board and the battery. Inother words, at least a portion of the first board may be disposed in atleast a partial area of a first direction of the second board, and atleast a portion of the battery may be disposed in at least anotherportion of a first direction of the second board.

In the embodiment, in an area in which the first board is disposed inthe first direction of the second board, at least one connecting portionfor electrical connection to the first board may be provided.

FIG. 7 illustrates a fourth embodiment of the disclosure.

According to various embodiments, a thermistor 730 may be disposed at afirst surface of a first direction of a second board 740.

Referring to FIG. 7 , at the first surface of the second board 740,connecting portions 721 and 722 for electrical connection with a firstboard 720 may be formed. A second surface of the second board 740 may bedirectly attached to a rear housing 710.

A structure of the fourth embodiment is a structure that enables thefirst board 720 and the connecting portions 721 and 722 and thethermistor 730 to be positioned at the same surface and that may beapplied when a distance between the rear housing 710 and the first board720 is small. In the embodiment, because the rear housing 710 and thesecond board 740 are attached directly in a large area, a temperature ofthe rear housing 710 may be transferred to the thermistor 730 throughthe second board 740.

According to an embodiment, the rear housing 710 and the second board740 may be attached through a tape (e.g., 3M8804N tape that uses forheat spread of a heat pipe or CU sheet tape, which is a metal sheet of acopper material) of a high thermal conductive material to maximallytransfer a heat of the rear housing 710 to the second board 740.Further, in the embodiment, the thermistor 730 may be more closelydisposed to the rear housing 710 rather than the first board 720.

According to various embodiments, two connecting portions 721 and 722may be used to electrically connect the first board 720 and the secondboard 740.

FIG. 8 illustrates a fifth embodiment of the disclosure.

According to various embodiments, an electronic device 800 may include asheet type thermistor 830. For example, the sheet type thermistor 830may be formed in a sheet or film type by widely spreading a negativetemperature coefficient (NTC) material, which is a constituent elementof the thermistor.

According to an embodiment, a second surface of the sheet typethermistor 830 and a first surface of a rear housing 810 may be directlyattached to each other, and in this case, the second surface of thesheet type thermistor 830 and the first surface of the rear housing 810may be attached through a tape of a high thermal conductive material.According to an embodiment, at a surface of the sheet type thermistor830, connecting portions 821 and 822 for electrical connection with thefirst board 820 may be provided.

In the embodiment, because it is unnecessary to separately configure thethermistor (e.g., the thermistor 430 of FIG. 4 ) and the second board(e.g., the second board 440 of FIG. 4 ), there is a merit that thethermistor and the second board can be easily processed in variousshapes and sizes and that a thickness of the electronic device 800 canbe reduced.

In various embodiments described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8 , thethermistor (e.g., 430 of FIG. 4 ) is disposed adjacent to the rearhousing to measure a temperature of the rear housing, but a dispositionposition of the thermistor is not limited thereto. For example, in theelectronic device, by disposing the thermistor in at least a portion ofa side surface of the housing, a front window, and a bezel area, atemperature of an internal configuration of the electronic device or anarea of the housing in which the thermistor is disposed can be measured.

FIGS. 9 to 12 illustrate a disposition form of a thermistor and a secondboard according to various embodiments of the disclosure. FIGS. 9 to 12are diagrams viewed in a first direction from a rear surface of anelectronic device 900 and may have a form in which a rear housing (e.g.,the rear housing 410 of FIG. 4 ) is removed.

According to various embodiments, in at least a partial area of thefirst direction of the second board (the second board 440 of FIG. 4 ),at least a portion of the first board (e.g., the first board 420 of FIG.4 ) may be disposed, and in at least another partial area thereof, atleast a portion of a battery 910 may be disposed. That is, as shown inFIG. 9 , a second board 920 may be formed to cover both a portion of thebattery 910 and the first board in the first direction.

According to an embodiment described with reference to FIG. 9 , athermistor 930 may be disposed in an area (e.g., a second direction ofthe center of the battery) in which a battery is disposed in the firstdirection. Accordingly, the thermistor 930 can measure a temperature ofthe battery 910. In the second board, in an area in which the firstboard is disposed in the first direction, a connection portion 940 forelectrical connection to the first board may be provided; thus, anelectrical signal transferred from the thermistor 930 can be provided tothe processor mounted in the first board.

Referring to FIG. 10 , a second board 1020 may be provided in variousforms (e.g., T-shaped form); thus, a thermistor 1030 can be disposed invarious areas of a battery 1010. For example, in an embodiment describedwith reference to FIG. 10 , the second board 1020 is extended to aposition of the upper end of the battery, compared with an embodimentdescribed with reference to FIG. 9 ; thus, the thermistor 1030 can bedisposed to measure a temperature of a corresponding area. Also, aconnection portion 1040 for electrical connection to the first board maybe provided.

According to various embodiments, an electronic device 1000 includes aplurality of thermistors to measure a temperature of various elements(e.g., a cover, battery) of the electronic device using each thermistor.

Referring to FIG. 11 , in an area of an electronic device 1100 in whicha battery 1110 is disposed in a first direction of the second board1120, a first thermistor 1132 may be disposed, and in an area in which afirst board 1150 is disposed in a first direction, a second thermistor1134 may be disposed. Here, the first thermistor 1132 is disposed in afirst direction of the second board 1120, i.e., a direction close to thebattery 1110 to measure a temperature of the battery 1110, and thesecond thermistor 1134 is disposed in a second direction of the secondboard 1120, i.e., a direction adjacent to the rear housing to measure atemperature of the rear housing. In the embodiment, in an area in whichthe first board 1150 is disposed in a first direction of the secondboard 1120, a connection portion 1140 for electrical connection to thefirst board 1150 is provided; thus, an electrical signal transferredfrom the first thermistor 1132 and the second thermistor 1134 can beprovided to a processor (e.g., the processor 210 of FIG. 2 ) mounted onthe first board 1150.

FIG. 12 illustrates a disposition form of a sheet type thermistor.

According to various embodiments, an electronic device 1200 may includea sheet type thermistor 1230. For example, the sheet type thermistor1230 may be formed in a sheet or film type by widely spreading an NTCmaterial, which is a constituent element of the thermistor.

Referring to FIG. 12 , the sheet type thermistor 1230 may cover all or aportion of a battery area to measure a temperature of the battery. Inthe embodiment, a first board may be disposed in a first direction of atleast a portion of the sheet type thermistor 1230 to provide aconnection portion 1240 for electric connection to the first board.

FIG. 13 is a diagram of a circuit for detecting a temperature of anelectronic device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

According to various embodiments, the thermistor may be formed inparallel to a pull-up resistor. When a temperature of the thermistorincreases due to a heat generated within the electronic device, aresistance value of the thermistor increases; thus, a value of a currentdistributed to the thermistor and the pull-up resistor can be changed. Acurrent value transferred from the thermistor (or the pull-up resistor)may be input to the processor, and the processor may measure atemperature of the thermistor through the current value.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a circuit configuration, and variousembodiments of the disclosure are not limited thereto.

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the disclosureincludes a housing (e.g., 410 of FIG. 4 ) configured to form an externalshape thereof; a first board (e.g., 420 of FIG. 4 ) disposed in a firstdirection (e.g., a front direction) of the housing and in which at leastone processor (e.g., 210 of FIG. 2 ) is mounted; a second board (e.g.,440 of FIG. 4 ) disposed between the housing and the first board andelectrically connected to the first board; and a thermistor (e.g. 430 ofFIG. 4 ) mounted on the second board, wherein the processor 210 measuresa temperature of the housing based on an electrical signal received fromthe second board.

According to various embodiments, the thermistor (e.g., 430 of FIG. 4 )may be disposed at a second surface of a second direction (e.g., a reardirection) opposite to the first direction of the second board (e.g.,440 of FIG. 4 ).

According to various embodiments, in a first surface of the firstdirection of the housing (e.g., 410 of FIG. 4 ), a hole (415 of FIG. 4 )may be formed in at least a partial area in which the thermistor (430 ofFIG. 4 ) is disposed in the first direction.

According to various embodiments, the first surface may be attached toat least a portion of the second surface of the second board (e.g., 440of FIG. 4 ), and the second surface positioned in a direction oppositeto that of the first surface may further include at least one firststructure (451 and 452 of FIG. 4 ) attached to at least a portion of thefirst surface of the housing (410 of FIG. 4 ).

According to various embodiments, the first structure (e.g., 451 and 452of FIG. 4 ) may be made of a material having thermal conductivity of areference value or less.

According to various embodiments, in an area in which the thermistor(e.g., 430 of FIG. 4 ) is disposed, a distance between the housing(e.g., 410 of FIG. 4 ) and the second board (e.g., 440 of FIG. 4 ) maybe larger than a length of the first direction and the second directionof the thermistor.

According to various embodiments, the first surface may be attached toat least a portion of the second surface of the second direction of thethermistor (e.g., 430 of FIG. 4 ), and the second surface positioned ina direction opposite to that of the first surface may further include atleast one second structure (e.g., 460 of FIG. 4 ) attached to at leastone of the first surface of the housing (e.g., 410 of FIG. 4 ).

According to various embodiments, the second structure (e.g., 460 ofFIG. 4 ) may be an insulator.

According to various embodiments, the thermistor (e.g., 730 of FIG. 7 )may be disposed at the first surface of the first direction of thesecond board (e.g., 740 of FIG. 7 ).

According to various embodiments, the second surface of the seconddirection of the second board (e.g., 740 of FIG. 7 ) may be attached tothe first surface of the housing (e.g., 710 of FIG. 7 ).

According to various embodiments, at least two connecting portions(e.g., 421 and 442 of FIG. 4 ) may be separate or included with thefirst board (e.g., 420 of FIG. 4 ) or the second board (e.g., 440 ofFIG. 4 ) for electrical connection to the other of the first board(e.g., 420 of FIG. 4 ) and the second board (e.g., 440 of FIG. 4 ).

According to various embodiments, the electronic device may furtherinclude a battery (e.g. 910 of FIG. 9 ), wherein the thermistor (e.g.,930 of FIG. 9 ) may be disposed in an area in which at least a portionof the battery is disposed in the first direction in the second board(e.g., 920 of FIG. 9 ).

According to various embodiments, in at least a partial area of thefirst direction of the second board, at least a portion of the firstboard may be disposed, and in at least another partial area of the firstdirection of the second board, at least a portion of the battery may bedisposed.

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the disclosureincludes a housing (e.g., 410 of FIG. 4 ) configured to form an externalshape thereof; a first board (e.g., 420 of FIG. 4 ) disposed in a firstdirection of the housing; and a thermistor (e.g. 430 of FIG. 4 )disposed between the housing and the first board, wherein a distance ofthe first direction between the thermistor and the housing is smallerthan that of the first direction between the thermistor and the firstboard.

According to various embodiments, the thermistor (e.g., 430 of FIG. 4 )may be mounted at a first surface of the first direction of the secondboard (440 of FIG. 4 ) electrically connected to the first board (e.g.,420 of FIG. 4 ) or a second surface of a second direction opposite tothe first direction.

According to various embodiments, the thermistor (e.g., 430 of FIG. 4 )may not come in physical contact with the housing (e.g., 410 of FIG. 4).

According to various embodiments, the electronic device may furtherinclude a first structure (e.g., the second board 440 of FIG. 4 )disposed in the first direction of the thermistor (e.g., 430 of FIG. 4 )and configured to block a heat transferred in a second directionopposite to the first direction in the first board (e.g., 420 of FIG. 4); and a second structure (e.g., 451 and 452 of FIG. 4 ) disposed in athird direction perpendicular to the first direction and the seconddirection of the thermistor and configured to block a heat transferredfrom the outside to the thermistor and/or transferred from thethermistor to the outside.

An electronic device according to various embodiments of the disclosureincludes a housing configured to form an external shape thereof; abattery (e.g., 1110 of FIG. 11 ) disposed in a first direction of thehousing; a first board (1150 of FIG. 11 ) disposed in the firstdirection of the housing; a second board (e.g., 1120 of FIG. 11 ) inwhich at least a portion of the battery is disposed in the firstdirection of the first area and in which at least a portion of the firstboard is disposed in the first direction of a second area different fromthe first area; and a first thermistor (e.g., 1132 of FIG. 11 ) mountedin the first area of the second board and a second thermistor (e.g.,1134 of FIG. 11 ) mounted in the second area of the second board.

According to various embodiments, the first board (e.g., 1150 of FIG. 11) may include at least one processor 210, and wherein the at least oneprocessor 210 may be configured to determine a temperature of thebattery (e.g., 1110 of FIG. 11 ) based on an electrical signaltransmitted from the first thermistor (e.g., 1132 of FIG. 11 ) and todetermine a temperature of the first board (e.g., 1150 of FIG. 11 )based on an electrical signal transmitted from the second thermistor(e.g., 1134 of FIG. 11 ).

According to various embodiments, the first thermistor (e.g., 1132 ofFIG. 11 ) may be disposed at the first surface of the first direction ofthe first area of the second board (e.g., 1120 of FIG. 11 ), and thesecond thermistor (e.g., 1134 of FIG. 11 ) may be disposed at a secondsurface of a second direction opposite to the first direction of thesecond area of the second board.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, a temperaturedetection structure of an electronic device that can accurately sense atemperature of a cover and a battery can be provided.

While the disclosure has been shown and described with reference tovarious embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled inthe art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as definedby the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A portable communication device comprising: ahousing; a display accommodated in the housing; a first printed circuitboard (PCB) accommodated in the housing; a second PCB accommodated inthe housing, the second PCB substantially parallel to the first PCB andelectrically connected with the first PCB; a connector disposed betweenthe first PCB and the second PCB such that a first portion and a secondportion of the connector are connected to the first PCB and the secondPCB, respectively; a first thermistor disposed on a first surface of thesecond PCB facing the display; and a processor disposed on the firstPCB, wherein the processor is configured to obtain an electrical signalcorresponding to a temperature measured by the first thermistor.
 2. Theportable communication device of claim 1, wherein the first PCB isdisposed between the display and the second PCB.
 3. The portablecommunication device of claim 1, wherein the processor disposed betweenthe first PCB and the second PCB.
 4. The portable communication deviceof claim 1, wherein each of the first PCB and the second PCB is a rigidPCB.
 5. The portable communication device of claim 1, wherein the firstthermistor is disposed adjacent to the processor.
 6. The portablecommunication device of claim 1, further comprising: a secondthermistor, wherein the second thermistor is disposed on a first surfaceof the first PCB facing the display.
 7. The portable communicationdevice of claim 6, wherein the second thermistor is disposed adjacent toa battery.
 8. The portable communication device of claim 7, wherein thesecond thermistor is configured to measure a temperature of an area inproximity of the battery.